Professor McCall was joined in the discussion by Joe Strupp, senior editor of Editor & Publisher.

Why, asked O'Reilly, was the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller front page news in the New York Times, while the killing of Private William Long -- who died in an attack on a recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas -- received placement on page 16 of that newspaper. Two TV networks "totally ignored the Long story," according to O'Reilly. "All three networks extensively covered Tiller."

[Download Video: "The Professor Responds" - 1619kb] "No two stories are the same," McCall responded, "and we don't want every story covered through a template. And these stories are different in that Tiller is probably a more high profile person than Private Long."

However, Dr. McCall does see similarities in the stories in that both involve "heinous crimes" and contain "political overtones. And having said that, the coverage has not been nearly the same, as you indicated. The coverage has been much different in volume and in tone."

The professor also notes that President Obama has been working to build relations with the Muslim world and the fact that Private Long's killer is an American Muslim raises sensitivities that may be a factor in the story's lower profile. [Download Video: "The Narrative" - 1501kb] "It doesn't fit the narrative of the media," McCall asserts.

The appearance marked McCall's eighth on O'Reilly Factor, which averages about 3.5 million viewers a night. The last time the professor appeared, on January 31, 2008, he discussed the "polarizing kind of communication" that can be found on some talk radio programs.